Spain, Refugee Brethren January 2009
As we've alluded to in previous news, the level of interest in the true Gospel is spreading worldwide. We're even in correspondence with someone in a small village in Nin chen county,Chifeng area,Inner Mongolia- that's on the Chinese side of the Mongolian border, about as remote as you can get. Talking of Mongolia, we have a contact there who has read Bible Basics and agrees with us, but doesn't currently seek re-baptism. His work takes him throughout rural Mongolia, and Brother Marcus regularly sends him boxes of Bible Basics in Mongolian for distribution in some remote areas where Christianity has hardly arrived.More accessibly, we have enjoyed much correspondence with WALTER, a Nigerian currently living in Spain, who came to us through our Aletheia College outreach [www.aletheiacollege.net ] . He's very impressed with our rejection of a personal Satan, and is doing all he can to spread the truths he has learnt to his many contacts world-wide. It was a pleasure to meet Walter and baptize him in the bath tub of a hotel near the Atocha railway station, right in the heart of Madrid.
Photo: Walter after his baptism
Meanwhile our refugee brethren and sisters who have fled from Iran and Iraq continue their precarious existence in various locations in Turkey. We were able to again visit the safe house, and are happy to report that all is well there with the residents, although the months and even years of long term uncertainty are very waring on even the bravest of spirits.
We travelled further on to Eastern Turkey. We're pleased to say that our dear brother S and his family have been accepted by UNHCR and are awaiting the documentation to emigrate to a Western country. This has been a very quick turn around and we thank God for it. But they still have many months of waiting ahead of them. They're in a snow covered mountain town- this is the kind of place the Turkish Government insists refugees live whilst seeking asylum; they are not allowed to work, have to pay 600$ every 6 months for a residence permit for the family, are given no state support, not allowed to travel far from their registered living place, must sign in with the authorities every few days, etc. This is simply because Turkey has over 1 million refugees living in the country and they don't want to make themselves an attractive option for asylum seekers. Many such families are struggling to get by, especially with the cold temperatures. It was -18 C [that's -40 F] when we were there, and the children were sick. We were able to provide some medications. It's so cold they often wear scarves, hats and outside clothes even indoors.
We went to visit another Kurdish family who have been studying Bible Basics in Kurdish. They too are refugees, and converted from Islam to Christianity some years ago, but have now come to a clearer doctrinal picture of their faith and wanted to be baptized. They are a married couple with 3 children, one a baby. They live in a basement apartment, with a broken window boarded up with polystyrene:
They have an outside toilet, and their sole water is from one tap- all water for washing and cooking must come from here:
But P & B and their teenage son A are truly on fire for the Lord, and deeply grateful for having learnt the Truth. It was a pleasure to baptize them. B was thrown out of her family for having converted to Christianity from Islam; her father has written to her that he will spend all the money he has to track her down and have her killed. They are fiercely independent and free thinkers, doing all kinds of menial work in order to support themselves.
They truly , truly are very appreciative of the assistance but above all for the Gospel of the Kingdom we've been able to share with them.
We also have had contact with Kurdish contacts within Iran and Iraq who have studied Bible Basics and seek baptism, but they have no possibility to safely travel very far, and are themselves located in insecure areas. We will be in prayer for guidance about what to do in these cases.
EASTERN EUROPEAN WINTER BIBLE SCHOOL, JANUARY 24-28 2009 God willing
This year we have many brothers and sisters who'd love to come, including some who've never managed to attend before. The financial crisis and collapse of the British pound against the Euro- see a dramatic graph at -
- means that we really would value any contributions anyone can make to this unique event. Brother Scott Ketelsen is now also coming from USA to assist with the talks. Any others who'd like to come- there's still time to arrange it!
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks